Zach Michon left the Robbinsville High School’s boys’ track and field team as the record holder in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters. One year later, he has been making waves in his first year of collegiate running with the St. Joseph’s University men’s team.
Michon was named the Atlantic 10 Track and Field Rookie of the Week on April 24 after besting a field of 113 racers at the Widener Invitational to win the 1,500 meters in a season-best time of 3:56.21. It was Michon’s second Rookie of the Week honor. He also was named A10 Cross Country Rookie of the Week on Sept. 20, 2016, for his efforts at the Rider Invitational 8k. In his college debut, Michon was the Hawks’ top finisher in 21st place out of 129 finishers with a 25:20.2 finish time.
“It felt good to have some recognition among the A-10 conference,” said Michon, who also was named to the Atlantic 10 Indoor Track and Field All-Rookie Team.
A biology major, Michon has been enjoying success in his first year at St. Joseph’s.
“I’ve been getting really close to my goals,” Michon said. “I’m greedy with myself when it comes to goals. I always set a really high standard for myself, something that’s almost unreasonable for me to hit. Coming out of Robbinsville, having Coach (Brian) Harshman for my senior year, really set me up well for college. Especially getting used to the type of training we’d do.”
Michon closed his freshman year at St. Joseph’s with the IC4A Championships at Princeton University on May 14. He finished 12th in the men’s 1,500 meters in a personal-best 3:53.72. It was his final chance to race after missing the Atlantic 10 Championships due to a bout with food poisoning.
“I haven’t really had the chance to get in many fast races this spring, so it’s kind of been a slow spring,” Michon said. “The workouts say that I’m in shape for fast times, but I haven’t gotten in that race situation yet.”
‘He’s committed to working to get better every single day. That’s the drive you see in athletes.’
Michon is looking forward to a return for his sophomore year. He has shown tremendous promise in his first year, beginning in a more unlikely area—cross country.
“In the fall, I never considered myself much of a cross guy, but the transition wasn’t that bad,” Michon said. “I got on the higher mileage training. I had a few minor injuries early in the year, but I was able to overcome them and race pretty well a few times.”
The Hawks were encouraged by what they saw out of Michon, who was joined on the team by another freshman out of Robbinsville, Christian Roberts. Michon fell in love with St. Joe’s on his visit, and followed two family members to the school: his father Arthur, who also ran at St. Joe’s, and his sister Morgan, who played soccer at St. Joe’s. Michon has made a quick impact.
“He’s adapted very well,” said St. Joe’s head coach Mike Glavin. “I think he’s got a great future, not just based on what he’s done. You can watch him run, and you can see there’s gas in that tank that hasn’t been lit. He’s not a ‘Geez, I’d like to break 4:10’ guy. I don’t want to put numbers on him, but I think he’s going to be doing some big things.”
Michon has been able to handle a bigger mileage load since he started college. He came off of the cross country season and was able to get right into the swing of things in indoor track.
“The transition from cross country to winter track was really smooth,” he said. “I think I had the best possible track season I could for winter track. Everything, other than some illnesses here and there, went really smoothly. I was racing good, I was feeling good and I made a name for myself among the team.”
Michon continued his progress into the spring. At the Penn Relays, Michon ran 3:04.92 in the 1,200-meter leadoff leg of the distance medley; St. Joe’s set a season-best time in the race (10:09.55). The Widener meet gave him a chance to race and show his finishing abilities.
“It felt good to be able to get out there and run,” Michon said. “I was in the faster heat, but the competition wasn’t loaded. It felt good to get in there and see what I could do.”
Michon credits his successful transition to getting a good start at Robbinsville. He was able to contribute to the Ravens from his freshman year, and blossomed into a record holder who medaled at the 2016 Meet of Champions in the 1,600 meters, with his 4:13.77 best. He also showed his versatility with a sub-2:00 time in the 800 meters and ran a school record 9:11.98 at the Holmdel Twilight Series, a race that RHS head track coach Jon Hutchinson still remembers.
“We went down to Holmdel, and he just went out there and had such a fantastic kick,” Hutchinson said. “The last 400 meters, he just went after it.
“You look at the Meet of Champs race. He was running with some fantastic runners, and he was right there at the end. If he had maybe another 50 meters, instead of finishing (7th), he would have finished top three or even had a shot to win it. He was right there. He’s always been good at the shorter events like the 16 and 8, but to see him do well in the 32 was great to see.”
Hutchinson isn’t surprised by Michon’s success in college. He saw a work ethic that translated into improvements.
‘It’s going to be all about getting lots of quality miles in this summer to set me up for next year.’
“He’s committed to working to get better every single day,” Hutchinson said. “That’s the drive you see in athletes. You can always tell who’s going to be successful in college based on who’s out there pushing themselves every day. I’d see him at the track, they’re on winter or spring break and the team’s off, and he’s at our track every single day doing workouts. You can see that transition from high school where he was running every day, even on off days, and going out and you see that full commitment with him getting workouts in even with no coach hounding him or getting his splits. He’s doing it himself. You can see that that’s helped him go to college, and that’s why you see some of the success he’s had so far.”
Michon is fueled to do even better when he comes back. His first focus is preparing for the cross country season.
“I’m very satisfied with how the season went,” he said. “I’m hoping next season we obviously improve.”
Michon is looking to be a bigger part of the team. With some contributors graduating, he will have the opportunity to step in.
“I think cross country has grown on me a little bit,” he said. “I like it more than I did in high school. A lot of that is because of the team. The team is a lot of fun, and there are good guys to train with.
“St. Joe’s is a really big team,” he said. “There are always lots of guys coming out to support you. Having guys ahead of me that can push me, and make me want to achieve more. That’s huge in getting myself better.”
Michon proved early that he would do what he could to help the team. He has been able to contribute on the track when healthy.
“Indoors at conferences, he was in the slower of two sections,” Glavin said. “He felt it was slow so he went out and ran 4:15 on a flat track by himself to get us a point in eighth. He gets it enough to say, ‘Here’s what I want to accomplish, and I’m not letting anyone get in my way.’ He’s a coachable guy.”
Glavin sees promise because Michon has been able to handle the move to college well. Michon’s times in the 800 and 1,500 have continued to drop. The longtime coach foresees a chance for him to even move up to the 3,000 in future years.
“Not only is he going to help, he’s going to be a part of some significant things,” Glavin said. “There’s a lot to be done track wise and cross country wise. In the fall, he was banged up a bit and got a late start. I think he’ll be a force to contend with for a top seven spot or top five spot in the fall.”
Michon sees the opportunity to be a bigger contributor in the coming years. He is motivated to help even more as he comes off a successful freshman year and eyes competing again during the fall.
“It’s going to be all about getting lots of quality miles in this summer to set me up for next year,” Michon said. “I want to get some good training in because I want to have a great cross season and I know the first thing to having a great cross season is getting in summer miles. They say summer miles brings fall smiles.”
Zach Michon earned multiple Atlantic 10 Conference Rookie of the Week honors during his freshman season running at St. Joseph’s University.,
